Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Guru Maṇḍala is a ritual manual designed to facilitate the attainment of spiritual accomplishments by pleasing the guru. The text outlines a specific liturgical procedure for creating a mandala offering, grounding its authority in the Ocean Tantra. The process is structured around the use of precise mantras to consecrate floral offerings and arrange them according to a cardinal spatial logic, specifically associating directions such as the south-west and north-east with particular deities or mantras. The ritual culminates in a physical act of prostration and a visualization process wherein the offering goddesses dissolve into the ācārya. By committing the practitioner to this rigorous sequence of mantra recitation and visualization, the text aims to delight the mind of the teacher, thereby removing obstacles to the student's progress. The work functions as a technical guide for the practitioner to align their external actions and internal visualizations with the requirements of the tantric tradition.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the Guru Maṇḍala, this work originates from the Indian tradition and is attributed to the author Jayasena. It was translated into classical Tibetan by dpal ye shes rdo rje and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཟ, where it is situated within the collection of the Śaṃvara and Related Tantras. Spanning two pages in this edition, the work enacts a ritual procedure designed to ensure that all accomplishments arise from completely pleasing the guru. Drawing its authority from the Ocean Tantra, the text provides a technical guide for the practitioner, detailing the gathering of water and flowers, the recitation of specific mantras to consecrate offerings across cardinal directions, and the performance of prostrations. The ritual concludes with a visualization in which goddesses dissolve into the ācārya to delight his mind. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the precise liturgical requirements of the Guru Maṇḍala, specifically the integration of mantra, spatial arrangement, and visualization used to facilitate the relationship between student and teacher.
This text illustrates the central role of the guru in Vajrayāna Buddhism, where the teacher is viewed as the primary source of spiritual empowerment. It demonstrates the integration of mantra, spatial arrangement, and visualization in ritual practice. For the modern reader, it provides a concrete example of how tantric systems operationalize the relationship between student and teacher through symbolic offerings.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Establishes the purpose of the ritual and its source in the Ocean Tantra.
2-3
Ritual Procedure
Details the mantras for flower offerings, the spatial arrangement of the mandala, the prostration, and the final visualization of the goddesses dissolving into the teacher.
Themes
Guru Devotion (1, 3)
Mantra and Ritual Action (2, 3)
Visualization (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
The Guru Maṇḍala
Homage to the glorious Ḍākinī Ocean! In order that all accomplishments without exception may arise from completely pleasing the guru, I shall explain the Guru Maṇḍala as taught from the Ocean [Tantra] itself.
Regarding that: first, whether in the presence of the guru or elsewhere, one should gather water, flowers, and so forth. Having washed one's feet, one should wash the hands and rinse the mouth with the mantra: Oṃ hrīḥ svāhā. With Oṃ hūṃ, one should protect oneself, the place, and the yoga. With that same [mantra], one should also consecrate the seat.
With Oṃ vajrabhūmi hūṃ, one should take possession of the ground. With Oṃ sarvavighnān utsāraya hūṃ svāhā, one should smear [the ground] with water and cow dung free of living organisms. With Oṃ āḥ vajrarekhe hūṃ, one should place the right hand behind the left hand and cast a flower onto the maṇḍala. With Oṃ surekhe sarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhantu svāhā, one should wash the hands. With Oṃ maṇidhari vajriṇi mahāpratisare rakṣa rakṣa māṃ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā, one should protect oneself by placing a flower on one's head.
Then, distinguishing between day and night, one should visualize the maṇḍala as the sun or the moon. With Oṃ candrārka vimala svāhā, one should consecrate it. Then, removing the previous flower, one should place a single flower in the center with Oṃ vajraguruḥ svāhā. Likewise, in the east, north, west, and south, [one places flowers with] Oṃ sarvasundari svāhā.
Oṃ priyatottamaṃ svāhā | Oṃ dayākātārā svāhā | Oṃ vilāsavajra svāhā. With these, [one should place the flowers]. In the directions of fire, the south-west, wind, and the north-east, one should arrange the flowers with: Oṃ buddhalocanī svāhā | Oṃ māmakī svāhā | Oṃ pāṇḍarāvāsī svāhā | Oṃ tāre svāhā.
Then, through the yoga of an instant, one should meditate on the Guru seated in the manner of Vajrasattva upon the central flower. Then, in the four directions, in order, are the goddesses of blue, green, red, and yellow colors: Sarvāsundarī, Ratipriyā, Atikaruṇā, and Vilāsavajrā. All have one face and two arms, are adorned with various garments and ornaments, and are in the prime of youth. Their breasts are like half-split kiṃśuka fruits. With minds of passion, they gaze with sidelong glances and offer precious jewels and various offerings in their cupped hands to the Principal Deity.
In the intermediate directions of fire and so forth, are Locanā, Māmakī, Pāṇḍaravāsī, and Tārā, of white, blue, red, and green colors respectively. They have one face and two arms. Their right hands hold, in order, a wheel, a vajra, a lotus, and an utpala flower. Their left hands hold various offerings and present them to the Principal Deity. All their ornaments and so forth are as described before. One should clearly visualize them all in a graceful and playful posture.
"Oṃ vajrasattva gurupādebhyaḥ sarvasattvopakaraṇāya svāhā." Having prostrated with these words, one should make the offering. Then, visualizing that the goddesses dissolve into the ācārya and his mind is delighted, one should request them to depart by reciting "Oṃ āḥ hūṃ muḥ." Then, having gathered the flowers and placed them upon one's own head, one should remain in whatever way is comfortable.
"By this precious maṇḍala, offered while protecting the king of tantras, the glorious Ḍākinī Ocean, through the pith instructions, may all beings become universal monarchs of the Dharma."
This concludes the translation by the glorious Jñānavajra of the words of the learned scholar Jayasena, composed in emerald.